A senior Catholic cleric blessing abortion? Who’d bet on that?

[…] In his letter to US bishops on abortion, Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI), spoke of ‘a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia’.

My politician in this tale of two moralities would cheer for Pope Benedict. He is Jacob Rees-Mogg. Last year, he told Good Morning Britain that he is completely opposed to abortion, including in cases of rape or incest. His reasoning was as easy as pie. ‘I am a Catholic and I take the teachings of the Catholic Church seriously.’

My priest in this tale would curse Pope Benedict. He is Monsignor John Devine OBE, Dean of the Roman Catholic Church, Isle of Man. He was chair of Liverpool Hope University Council and represents the Archdiocese of Liverpool on the island.

When the debate on the Abortion Reform Bill on the Isle of Man began in 2017, Msgr Devine sat on the fence until his butt ached. When Abort67 was protesting outside the Manx Parliament, near his church, Devine scuttled away like a hassled hen, not uttering a word.

Now he’s written to the Chief Minister of the Isle of Man. Devine’s epistle scandalously misrepresents and seriously distorts Catholic teaching. It abounds in logical fallacies and moral contradictions. He first derides members of his church and other Christians as the ‘lunatic fringe’ for using images of aborted babies in demonstrations.